Women In Politics: A Long Way To Go

The 16th Lok Sabha has convened to hold its 2016 Winter Session. While many significant topics from demonetization to marijuana legalisation will be discussed, a notable feature of the Lok Sabha is the prominence of men. The 16th Lok Sabha in its full membership (543 Members) has only 62 women – that is less than 12%.

I will not attempt to explain why gender equality is indispensable – that is an outdated debate and reemphasizing it will only give undue recognition to the anti-gender equality lobby (and that is highly undesirable). Suffice it to say that gender equality is essential for the political, economical, and moral growth of any nation. This is not conjecture or feminist propaganda; it is proven fact.

When one speaks of advancing gender equality, one invariable means the empowerment of women. This is because women continue to remain a majority of the world’s underfed, uneducated and underrepresented. While there have been massive undertakings on an international and a local scale to eliminate the prejudices which contribute to such inequality, the gender gap is still unacceptably and destructively wide. In this editorial I will endeavour to detail the unfair disadvantage women have in nearly all legislative bodies around the world.

Article 7 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), passed by the United Nations General Assembly in April 1979, states that “[Governments shall take all appropriate measures to ensure to women the right] to participate in the formulation of government policy and the implementation thereof and to hold public office and perform all public functions at all levels of government.” When it was passed, the CEDAW was deemed an ambitious document, with several Articles generating much controversy. Nearly all signatories, however, conceded that the political and administrative equality of women was significant. (Ironically, while countries like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have ratified the CEDAW, the United States of America is yet to ratify the same.)

Before deliberating on women’s participation in government we must recognize that women’s suffrage in itself is actually a very contemporary phenomenon. Even if you take into account famously liberal countries like Switzerland and Portugal, women in these countries only secured the right to vote in the late 20th century. Most Western nations reached universal suffrage in the wake of either of the two World Wars. Some countries, like India, began their independent journey by granting all their citizens suffrage.

Suffrage is also an incomplete phenomenon: Saudi Arabia gave its women the right to vote only in 2015 and universal suffrage remains a dream in countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Brunei and Vatican City.

As of 2016, the international average for national representation of women is 22.6%. The highest percentage-based representation of women is in the Republic of Rwanda. This central African nation boasts of a Lower House with 56.3% women and an Upper House with 38.5% women. Participation of women is generally higher in the liberal democracies of Europe and the Americas. A small minority of women are Heads of State or of Government. Angela Merkel, Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon are a few famous examples.

In the Republic of India, women’s political participation from local level Panchayats to the executive level has always been an issue seen as crucial to balancing gender disparity. India has seen one Head of Government in Indira Gandhi and one Head of State in Pratibha Patil. 33% of local Government seats are reserved for women; this Constitutional provision, while controversial, has aided enormously in bridging the divide. However, only 12.2% of the 16th Lok Sabha (convened in 2014) are women, and India remains the worst G20 country for women with a Global Gender Gap rank of 108 out of 136. It goes without saying that India has a long way to go.

The key to understanding the underrepresentation of women in legislative bodies lies in comprehending the low participation of women voters around the world. The yolk of conservative thought and over-romancing of the traditional view of women’s roles in society are still subduing women’s political participation in every level. Child-bearers and home-keepers who are taught to die as child-raisers and home-cleaners tend to not pay attention to the political conundrums of the day. Only by bursting this traditionalist bubble can women embrace a more individualistic outlook and increase their participation in local and national politics.

There are numerous measures that Governments have adopted to increase political participation of women. Education, political quotas, gender equality campaigns are a few notable examples. Such progressive policymaking has resulted in the political gender gap narrowing over the years. But a lot more needs to be done – and done soon. It doesn’t take an Ivy League degree to conclude that 50% of the population being represented by only 22.6% of Parliamentarians goes against political acumen, economic common sense and common sense in general.

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This Mother’s Day, Let Us Make A Real Difference In Our Mother’s Life

“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” – Abraham Lincoln

Mothers play a crucial role in our lives. Since we were little, they held our hands, acting as our guide into the world. They took care of all our needs – from teaching us how to hold a spoon, cooking delicious meals for us, dropping us to school and sitting with us while we struggled with our math homework – mothers have been there through thick and thin.

On the special occasion of Mother’s Day, Friends Adult Diapers has a beautiful message for each of us – treat your mother the way she has treated you all her life.

It was our mothers who stayed up all night taking care of us when we fell sick; it was her who help us with our homework. This Mother’s Day, remember to take care and support your mother the way she took care of you all these years.

The minds and bodies of our ageing parents dwindle as they grow even older, and somewhere in the incoherence of understanding their thoughts, children lose patience. They spend less and less time with their parents and hire others to look after them. A study by HelpAge India gives accounts of the elderly, most of whom testify to verbal abuse, neglect and disrespect by their children. Old people rely on their children for both emotional and financial support but, often times are not given the needed care.

There is little difference in how we were as toddlers and how parents are as senior citizens. They couldn’t understand the gibber we uttered then, yet taught us different languages. We were financially dependent on them till at least 18 years of age yet, they never said no to giving us pocket money. Why cannot we echo the same patience our parents showed for so many years?

Our parents have an unconditional love for us. They made sure all our needs are cared for and we never feel alone. When we grow up and our parents enter old age, they require the same care and affection. They would be delighted if we spent time with them after classes or work, make tea or cook for them and also help them with household chores when they have too many things at hand.

It is our responsibility to stand with our parents when they are weak; it is our responsibility to cook for them when they are too tired, and it is our responsibility to take care of them when they fall sick.

Mother’s Day is a celebration in honour of motherhood, a tribute to maternal bonds and the influence of mothers in society. Let us make a real difference by showing how much we truly care for our mothers.

Friends Adult Diapers has taken a wonderful initiative in this regard. The most precious gift for a mother is her child. So why not take this as an opportunity to shower her with the same love? After all, she deserves it for being with you through every obstacle and every hardship that you faced.